Pollen foraging behaviour of honey bee (<i>Apis mellifera</i> L.) in southern West Bengal, India
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Pollen loads of <i>Apis mellifera</i> were analysed to assess their daily pollen collection, polleniferous flora and their pollen biomass contribution in southern West Bengal, India. After that, the pollen host selection and pollen foraging activity of the bee species were also determined. The average daily harvest of pollen loads per honey bee colony was 8.5 g to 127.2 g. The pollen flow through the colonies was the highest during spring, followed by winter and summer, whereas during the monsoon it was the lowest. The weight of a single pollen load ranged from 3.22 mg to 11.73 mg and greatly varied within each season, but seasonal average values do not statistically differ. Families that contributed major amount of biomass were Arecaceae, Myrtaceae, Brassicaceae, Fabaceae, Pedaliaceae and Apiaceae. Taxa providing large amounts of biomass were <i>Brassica nigra</i>, <i>Eucalyptus globulus</i>, <i>Borassus flabellifer</i>, <i>Sesamum indicum</i>, <i>Acacia auriculiformis</i>, <i>Coriandrum sativum</i>, <i>Cocos nucifera</i>, <i>Phoenix sylvestris</i> and <i>Mikania scandens</i> (Asteraceae). As the bee species foraged on 26.32% (80 plant taxa) of the local angiosperm flora, the broad polylecty category was inferred. The pollen host selection by the bee species significantly depends on the flower availability index (FA<i>i</i>) and pollen availability index (PA<i>i</i>) rather than on an individual flower’s pollen quality (in term of pollen morphological characteristics and crude protein content) and pollen quantity (number of pollen grains/flower and amount of pollen biomass/flower). The pollen foraging activity of the bee species varied according to time as well as season. The activity was higher between 9.00 and 10.00 am. Seasonally, the highest activity was observed in spring and the lowest during the monsoon. Furthermore, the ratio of pollen foragers to total incoming foragers also varied according to the time of day as well as the season, and was largely dependent of resource availability.
本研究对印度西孟加拉邦南部的西方蜜蜂（Apis mellifera）所携带的花粉团开展分析，以评估其每日花粉采集量、粉源植物组成及花粉生物量贡献情况。此外，本研究还明确了该蜂种的花粉寄主选择行为与花粉采集活动。单个蜂群的日均花粉团采集量为8.5克至127.2克。蜂群的花粉流量在春季达到峰值，依次为冬季、夏季，而季风季则为全年最低。单个花粉团的重量介于3.22毫克至11.73毫克之间，且在各季节内部存在显著波动，但季节平均重量在统计学上无显著差异。贡献主要花粉生物量的植物科为棕榈科（Arecaceae）、桃金娘科（Myrtaceae）、十字花科（Brassicaceae）、豆科（Fabaceae）、胡麻科（Pedaliaceae）以及伞形科（Apiaceae）。生物量贡献较高的植物分类群包括黑芥（Brassica nigra）、蓝桉（Eucalyptus globulus）、扇叶糖棕（Borassus flabellifer）、芝麻（Sesamum indicum）、马占相思（Acacia auriculiformis）、芫荽（Coriandrum sativum）、椰子（Cocos nucifera）、野枣椰（Phoenix sylvestris）以及薇甘菊（Mikania scandens，菊科Asteraceae）。该蜂种可采集当地26.32%（共80个植物分类群）的被子植物区系花粉，因此可推断其属于广谱多采粉蜂类群。该蜂种的花粉寄主选择行为显著取决于花可用性指数（FAi）与花粉可用性指数（PAi），而非单朵花的花粉质量（以花粉形态特征与粗蛋白含量计）及花粉数量（以单花花粉粒数与单花花粉生物量计）。该蜂种的花粉采集活动随时间与季节发生变化，其活动峰值时段为每日9:00至10:00。按季节来看，花粉采集活动在春季达到最高，季风季为全年最低。此外，花粉采集蜂与总入巢采集蜂的比例同样随每日时段与季节发生变化，且主要受资源可获得性的影响。
